Earlier this month BET announced their nominations for the upcoming 2022 BET Awards, which stirred up quite a bit of controversy. Noticeably missing from the lineup was one of last years biggest (and most successful) artist, Lil Nas X.
But what really triggered some folks was the network nominating a white rapper, Jack Harlow — in the “Best Male Hip Hop Artist” category. LNX had two Billboard chart-topping hits last year with “Montero (Call Me By Your Name)” and “Industry Baby”, which featured Harlow.
People swiftly took to Twitter, as per usual, to let it be known how outrageous they thought the snub was — including LNX himself. In now deleted tweets, the Grammy winning entertainer sarcastically thanked BET for “zero nominations” and expressed how “black gay people have to fight to be seen.”
Grammy and Emmy winning actress and musician Queen Latifah leant her support to LNX, telling TMZ that “he should’ve been nominated.”
Check out Latifah’s statement below.
“Lil Nas X is amazing, he should’ve been nominated.” [Despite this, Latifah didn’t seem to think that his sexuality was behind the snub]. “I don’t know if that’s the case. I don’t know what’s behind all that, but inclusion is always the key. That’s what we should be striving for. There’s enough room in this world for everybody.”
Opinions continued to pour in on Twitter from fans and media personalities, expressing their disdain for LNX’s nomination snub.
https://twitter.com/iamlexstylz/status/1534531863993270274?s=20&t=fQll3lYwyyjjiD-50NMhxw
BET is homophobic like you’re being dense if you don’t think it’s cause Lil Nas X is gay. No way Industry Baby wasn’t even nominated for Best Collaboration. That song was huge last year
— 🇰🇪 (@evelynvwoodsen) June 8, 2022
https://twitter.com/kenyonfarrow/status/1534507296008683520?s=20&t=TQLHBarxGnJw-AV9315mjg
https://twitter.com/Tendurag/status/1532060456197947393?s=20&t=E7i5vAaedzxkFLKvYiESBQ
Lil Nas X, you may have been snubbed by BET and the voting committee for the BET Awards — but it’s clear that you have plenty of support from your fans and members of the community. So just keep twerking on the haters!
Damn, I started twerking at that moment 🍑👄🍑 @LilNasX pic.twitter.com/YTl0KHclQE
— karolina 💌 (@lilnasxpolandfp) June 8, 2022
The 2022 BET Awards airs on Sunday, June 26 at 8 p.m. EST on BET.
Source: LoveBScott , Uproxx